[Rom][4.4.2] AllianceRom_VZW Build 30 - 32 Themes [11/29/14][Fully Customizable][ND7]

[xflbret]

The i605 is actually still better than most new phones, so great hardware.

If you are locked on nd7, you have to stay on nd7 and safestrap or forget about it and just enjoy a buggy rom, welcome to my world.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

Unfortunately for me, my desire to stay with the Note 2 appears to greatly outweigh the dev community's desire to come up with a solid Lollipop rom for it. And, my phone IS unlocked.

The Alliance ROM seems great, but it does gradually slow down and has several random FC's after a few weeks. I've been through it twice, and have just reflashed with something else today because of it.

For what it is worth, I also wouldn't mind seeing one last update to the Alliance ROM.

 

[RobFreundlich]

The Alliance ROM seems great, but it does gradually slow down and has several random FC's after a few weeks. I've been through it twice, and have just reflashed with something else today because of it.

I was having the same problem with N3BULA, and set up a Tasker profile to reboot the phone every night just after midnight, if the phone was idle. It solved most of my problems. Can you do the same?

At some point, I hope to have the life bandwidth to switch over to Alliance, but for now, this trick has kept me going on N3BULA.

 

[xflbret]

I was having the same problem with N3BULA, and set up a Tasker profile to reboot the phone every night just after midnight, if the phone was idle. It solved most of my problems. Can you do the same?

At some point, I hope to have the life bandwidth to switch over to Alliance, but for now, this trick has kept me going on N3BULA.

Well, just a reboot didn't solve the issues I was having, so I doubt a daily automated reboot would do anything. So, I'm trying Saber right now. Bluetooth sucks ass, but on Alliance it was starting to, also. So, I figured I didn't have a lot to lose...except LTE stability. So far it is hanging in there, but I know it will fail eventually

 

[fallen00sniper]

I was having the same problem with N3BULA, and set up a Tasker profile to reboot the phone every night just after midnight, if the phone was idle. It solved most of my problems. Can you do the same?

At some point, I hope to have the life bandwidth to switch over to Alliance, but for now, this trick has kept me going on N3BULA.

Well, just a reboot didn't solve the issues I was having, so I doubt a daily automated reboot would do anything. So, I'm trying Saber right now. Bluetooth sucks ass, but on Alliance it was starting to, also. So, I figured I didn't have a lot to lose...except LTE stability. So far it is hanging in there, but I know it will fail eventually

Were/are you running odex or de-odex?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[xflbret]

Were/are you running odex or de-odex?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

I don't know...there's only one build offered in the OP, and whatever that was is the Alliance build I was running.

 

[fallen00sniper]

I don't know...there's only one build offered in the OP, and whatever that was is the Alliance build I was running.

Oh, guess I forgot lol

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[Charlie R.]

Patching Alliance with AOSP

So how difficult would it be to compile the latest AOSP (patched) KitKat, then extract the portions required to close the exploits in Alliance?

I'm not that excited about Lollipop or Marshmallow - I'd be happy on KitKat long-term if I could fix the bugs on my phone.

I loaded a copy of NowSecure's scan app, VTS for Android, and it found 9 major flaws in Alliance.

I realize that we can't fix the Towelroot flaw as Verizon's bootloader insists that we run a vulnerable kernel, but new Stagefright libraries would certainly keep Alliance viable.

I am much more careful now when Xprivacy warns me that a new app wants a shell - I'm much more likely to refuse and/or uninstall unless the app has compelling features.

 

[fallen00sniper]

So how difficult would it be to compile the latest AOSP (patched) KitKat, then extract the portions required to close the exploits in Alliance?

I'm not that excited about Lollipop or Marshmallow - I'd be happy on KitKat long-term if I could fix the bugs on my phone.

I loaded a copy of NowSecure's scan app, VTS for Android, and it found 9 major flaws in Alliance.

I realize that we can't fix the Towelroot flaw as Verizon's bootloader insists that we run a vulnerable kernel, but new Stagefright libraries would certainly keep Alliance viable.

I am much more careful now when Xprivacy warns me that a new app wants a shell - I'm much more likely to refuse and/or uninstall unless the app has compelling features.

Compiling isn't very hard, extracting the portion needed to make patches, probably not very difficult, finding a willing person with the knowledge to do so maybe very difficult.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[Charlie R.]

Compiling isn't very hard, extracting the portion needed to make patches, probably not very difficult, finding a willing person with the knowledge to do so maybe very difficult.

I have ported some crazy software in the past - the wierdest would be 1970s FORTRAN code from a VAX into modern Cygwin. I know my way around a C compiler, but not much Java.

There are complete build instructions for Cyanogenmod on the i605 here, that seem cookbook:

https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Build_for_i605

I don't know if that code base has all the needed patches, and whether the binaries it coughs up are compatible with the Samsung brain damage.

I would probably try to build this on Oracle Linux 7.2.

 

[fallen00sniper]

I have ported some crazy software in the past - the wierdest would be 1970s FORTRAN code from a VAX into modern Cygwin. I know my way around a C compiler, but not much Java.

There are complete build instructions for Cyanogenmod on the i605 here, that seem cookbook:

https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Build_for_i605

I don't know if that code base has all the needed patches, and whether the binaries it coughs up are compatible with the Samsung brain damage.

I would probably try to build this on Oracle Linux 7.2.

Most build it on Ubuntu, I would use xubuntu myself so more resources go to compiling and building.

I think the best bet would be to ask in a cyanogenmod thread or review the change log.

Java... well wc3schools maybe would help, I've dabbled with one tutorial and found it frustrating to learn coming from php, c would be easier for me to learn.

I wonder if I learn java if I could help patch and maybe port from newer roms so even people like me with safestrap get some kind of update.

If your interested I could maybe try and help on the weekends, I've got to study for a+ certification soon though.

I think I might have some pdf books somewhere on android a dev by the name of @Snuzzo and @theycallneneo gave me that could help.

Over 400mb... I'll upload them if I find them tomorrow night.
@Lacoursiere, if you still read these posts, interested in helping out?

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[Charlie R.]

Most build it on Ubuntu, I would use xubuntu myself so more resources go to compiling and building. I think the best bet would be to ask in a cyanogenmod thread or review the change log. Java... well wc3schools maybe would help, I've dabbled with one tutorial and found it frustrating to learn coming from php, c would be easier for me to learn.

I think that replacing the mediaserver and stagefright libraries would fix most of the problems. These are native binaries, written in C (or C++) so I shouldn't need java at all.

The build process seems to pull both from Google's aosp and Cyanogenmod's git servers. It should be possible to build for CM11 to pull KitKat code from aosp, which I would think would be patched.

There is a source file called media/libstagefright/MPEG4Extractor.cpp mentioned in the Zimperium source patch, which likely compiles into the /system/lib/libstagefright.so shared object.

One problem is that the Cyanogenmod build process needs a stock phone to pull vendor binaries (drivers). I need to obtain one, since I'm not willing to wipe my note 2 back to stock nd7. I'm checking ebay.

Assuming this can be done with Alliance, it would become the safest rom for the Note 2 overnight (aside from Towelroot, which we can't fix).

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------

There is a KitKat version of libstagefright.so compiled for the Galaxy S3 with patches up to August 15th:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/fix-stagefright-patched-t3173500/page3

Jiayu-S3-KitKat-stagefright_fix_1508.zip

I might try putting this on my Note 2 in the next few days.

 

[RobFreundlich]

I've just installed this ROM, and I'm playing around with themes and colors. I'd like to set up a theme that uses mostly light backgrounds (for dialogs, for example) and dark text. I can mostly do it, except for one thing - text input controls. I have tweaked every one of the text color settings, and none of them changes the color of the text in a text input control from white to anything else.

I believe this is the "white on white" problem that is referred to elsewhere in this thread. Unfortunately, unless I'm missing something, the solution cited by l18 (i.e. to use the S5 or 412 theme) is more of a workaround - those two themes use dark backgrounds, so the white text in an input control shows up just fine in them. That won't work for me if I want a white background.

I saw another suggestion upthread to change specific text color settings ("starting at the bottom, check numbers 2 through 4"), but that didn't work for me either - the text in a text input control remained white.

So ... *am* I missing something? Or is there just no way to change the color for text inputs?

 

[RobFreundlich]

Long pause at startup - trouble loading SuperSU?

I'm seeing a very long time from boot to full usability of my phone. I get to the lock screen fairly quickly, but I see the following odd behaviors:

1. Some widgets that display information, such as Evernote (with its list of recently-viewed notes), NoteWidget (post-it notes), and RTM (showing a task list), don't show their information for a long time
   
   *Sometimes it clears up on its own
   * Sometimes it seems to take action on my part, such as running something like ES File Explorer or SuperSU
   * The apps themselves work properly during this time. Only their widgets appear to be hung
   ​
2. Catlog shows a spinning cursor until everything else clears up - I discovered this while trying to use it to see what was going on
3. Sometimes if I open SuperSU during this period, I get an error message about the SuperSU binary being missing. If I open SuperSU again after everything clears up, I don't get that error message
   
   * I re-flashed SuperSU from recovery. After a rebooted, the long time period didn't happen, but I got continuous popups about systemui crashing. I rebooted again, and the long time period came back but systemui didn't crash.​
4. Various things that usually happen at startup don't happen until this pause/long time period clears up
   
   * Wifi connection
   *Tasker startup (sometimes. Sometimes it's fine)
   *Tasker AutoVoice hooking into Google Now (also sometimes/sometimes not)
   *Bluetooth turning on
   *Media scanner doing its scan. At first, I thought the problem was happening because of a long media scan, so I installed XPosed Media Scanner Optimizer so I could see when the scan happens and how long it takes. Now I can see that it happens after the problem and only takes about 30 seconds.
   ​

This didn't happen when I first installed the ROM last weekend. Then it started up a couple of days ago. I had recently frozen some apps (Samsung's Email, S Planner, and S Planner Widget), so I thought that might be the cause. However, I've unfrozen them, and it didn't fix the problem.

I just now rebooted, with "adb logcat" running. I've attached a gzip of the results. In the file, there are a couple of comment-ish lines starting with "####" to indicate where interesting things happened - when I unlocked the screen, when I ran Evernote (which is one of the apps with a troublesome widget), and when the boot appears to have completed. Interestingly, running Evernote seems to have triggered whatever was holding things up - when I ran it, there was a flurry of activity in the log and in the status bar, and when I went back to the home screen, the widgets had fixed themselves.

I'm going to post this and then get to the things I'm supposed to be doing today. If I have some time later on, I'll poke through the log and see if anything jumps out at me. I'm a developer, but not on Android, so I might have some luck.​

 

[NB2A]

Phone recorder

Does anyone know how to access this feature please? I cannot seem to get the icon to make a recording in a call. Thanks.

 

[fallen00sniper]

I'm seeing a very long time from boot to full usability of my phone. I get to the lock screen fairly quickly, but I see the following odd behaviors:

1. Some widgets that display information, such as Evernote (with its list of recently-viewed notes), NoteWidget (post-it notes), and RTM (showing a task list), don't show their information for a long time
   
   *Sometimes it clears up on its own
   * Sometimes it seems to take action on my part, such as running something like ES File Explorer or SuperSU
   * The apps themselves work properly during this time. Only their widgets appear to be hung
   ​
2. Catlog shows a spinning cursor until everything else clears up - I discovered this while trying to use it to see what was going on
3. Sometimes if I open SuperSU during this period, I get an error message about the SuperSU binary being missing. If I open SuperSU again after everything clears up, I don't get that error message
   
   * I re-flashed SuperSU from recovery. After a rebooted, the long time period didn't happen, but I got continuous popups about systemui crashing. I rebooted again, and the long time period came back but systemui didn't crash.​
4. Various things that usually happen at startup don't happen until this pause/long time period clears up
   
   * Wifi connection
   *Tasker startup (sometimes. Sometimes it's fine)
   *Tasker AutoVoice hooking into Google Now (also sometimes/sometimes not)
   *Bluetooth turning on
   *Media scanner doing its scan. At first, I thought the problem was happening because of a long media scan, so I installed XPosed Media Scanner Optimizer so I could see when the scan happens and how long it takes. Now I can see that it happens after the problem and only takes about 30 seconds.
   ​

This didn't happen when I first installed the ROM last weekend. Then it started up a couple of days ago. I had recently frozen some apps (Samsung's Email, S Planner, and S Planner Widget), so I thought that might be the cause. However, I've unfrozen them, and it didn't fix the problem.

I just now rebooted, with "adb logcat" running. I've attached a gzip of the results. In the file, there are a couple of comment-ish lines starting with "####" to indicate where interesting things happened - when I unlocked the screen, when I ran Evernote (which is one of the apps with a troublesome widget), and when the boot appears to have completed. Interestingly, running Evernote seems to have triggered whatever was holding things up - when I ran it, there was a flurry of activity in the log and in the status bar, and when I went back to the home screen, the widgets had fixed themselves.

I'm going to post this and then get to the things I'm supposed to be doing today. If I have some time later on, I'll poke through the log and see if anything jumps out at me. I'm a developer, but not on Android, so I might have some luck.​

Uninstall apps that you recently installed and install one at a time until you have the problem again, if it is still happening after they are removed try a clean flash, the white on white text is a check box that fixes it in colors, if you look through the thread I have answered it before and since I'm stuck running stock I can't look to help with the exact location and name, there should be a screen shot in my post.

I think that replacing the mediaserver and stagefright libraries would fix most of the problems. These are native binaries, written in C (or C++) so I shouldn't need java at all.

The build process seems to pull both from Google's aosp and Cyanogenmod's git servers. It should be possible to build for CM11 to pull KitKat code from aosp, which I would think would be patched.

There is a source file called media/libstagefright/MPEG4Extractor.cpp mentioned in the Zimperium source patch, which likely compiles into the /system/lib/libstagefright.so shared object.

One problem is that the Cyanogenmod build process needs a stock phone to pull vendor binaries (drivers). I need to obtain one, since I'm not willing to wipe my note 2 back to stock nd7. I'm checking ebay.

Assuming this can be done with Alliance, it would become the safest rom for the Note 2 overnight (aside from Towelroot, which we can't fix).

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------

There is a KitKat version of libstagefright.so compiled for the Galaxy S3 with patches up to August 15th:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software-hacking/fix-stagefright-patched-t3173500/page3

Jiayu-S3-KitKat-stagefright_fix_1508.zip

I might try putting this on my Note 2 in the next few days.

Worth a shot, I would think you could simply copy a dependant file from cyanogenmod directly.

Might be wrong about that though.

Does anyone know how to access this feature please? I cannot seem to get the icon to make a recording in a call. Thanks.

Should be in the rom settings, I had found it before, but I preferred using xposed framework and Wanam to enable it.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app​

 

[NB2A]

I cannot seem to find the settings for the phone recorder anywhere in this rom

 

[RobFreundlich]

the white on white text is a check box that fixes it in colors, if you look through the thread I have answered it before and since I'm stuck running stock I can't look to help with the exact location and name, there should be a screen shot in my post.

Is that the post that said something like "from the bottom, uncheck 2 through 4"? If so, I've tried that already (before asking for help).

In fact, I've unlinked all of my text colors and changed them to non-white, hoping to figure out which one would fix the white-on-white problem. I got a very colorful UI that was very hard to use because of all of the color overload , but certain text input widgets still show up as white on white (for example, the hex input display for the color picker in the text color settings).

Can you think of anything else I might try?

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------

Uninstall apps that you recently installed and install one at a time until you have the problem again, if it is still happening after they are removed try a clean flash

I know I can back up my settings in Alliance Manager so that restoring my setup after I do a clean flash is easier/faster than the first time around; is there a way to back up my home screen layout as well?

Thanks!

 

[fallen00sniper]

Is that the post that said something like "from the bottom, uncheck 2 through 4"? If so, I've tried that already (before asking for help).

In fact, I've unlinked all of my text colors and changed them to non-white, hoping to figure out which one would fix the white-on-white problem. I got a very colorful UI that was very hard to use because of all of the color overload , but certain text input widgets still show up as white on white (for example, the hex input display for the color picker in the text color settings).

Can you think of anything else I might try?

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------



I know I can back up my settings in Alliance Manager so that restoring my setup after I do a clean flash is easier/faster than the first time around; is there a way to back up my home screen layout as well?

Thanks!

Using the Alliance theme manager can back up your colors and such, a reboot may fix some of your problems, but some apps don't play well, i would use a different color than white that works with light and dark colors.

That was the post lol

Its been months since I have looked at all this stuff, hope what I can think of helps some.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[NB2A]

Call recording

Can anyone finally confirm to me where these settings are? I cannot get call recording to work at this point. I hate to have to reload the rom but without its settings I will have no choice. Thanks and happy new year.

 

[RobFreundlich]

Using the Alliance theme manager can back up your colors and such

It's great for that, but other than the data for my various apps (which I can backup and restore using TiBu), it's my home screen that's the most tedious to set up each time I do an install. So far, I haven't found anything to back that up

but some apps don't play well, i would use a different color than white that works with light and dark colors.

I don't think this is an app thing. There literally doesn't seem to be any way to change the color of the text in a text entry field, which is the color I'm talking about (see my comment in my original message about changing all of the Text colors).

If I were to rewrite the boldfaced part of the above quote to be accurate, it'd read as follows:

I would use a different Popup background color than white that works with light and dark Text colors, because you can control some Popup Text, but other Popup Text, such as that in text entry fields, will always be white.
​

Sadly, I like my Popups to have white backgrounds (I prefer a lighter-colored UI in general), which is how I've gotten into this mess in the first place. I've had to compromise by picking a background color that is a light grey, but not so light that the white text entry fields disappear. /sigh

That was the post lol

I'm glad to see I did my research correctly

, a reboot may fix some of your problems, Its been months since I have looked at all this stuff, hope what I can think of helps some.

Sadly, so far, a reboot hasn't helped. When I have some time, I'm going to poke through my original log, and will also take your original advice of uninstalling apps one-by-one to see if it helps, falling back to a clean install.